Well, this news is about a month old, but for those of you who don’t follow the Libertadores like I do, this is news nonetheless. While I do hope it’s a little more professional than the picture here, the draw date for the 2009 Copa Libertadores has been set which means that CONMEBOL now have a date a time to be late to.

But really, I kid. Look for the groups of the Copa Libertadores to be released on November the 25th. The draw of the 50th edition of this competition will take place in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.

For those of you who were under a rock, LDU Quito won this year’s edition, the first Ecuadorian club to ever win it. We witnessed a fantastic set of games from the champs as well as Fluminense, the losing team in the final, on their way to said destination and this next year’s competition should be just as promising.

So far we have 16 teams qualified. Defensor Sporting, Nacional and Peñarol all qualified earlier this year and will represent Uruguay, taking up their three alloted spots in the competition. Caracas FC, Deportivo Táchira and Deportivo Anzoátegui will be representing Venezuela, taking up their three alloted spaces.

Also, because LDU Quito are the defending champions they won’t have to qualify for the competition, Ecuador will be represented by 4 teams next year.

At least one club has qualified for the competition from every South American country. The Mexican clubs have yet to play the InterLiga to decide who is going to qualify in their spaces, so no Mexican club has qualified for this competition yet.

Palmeiras and Gremio stand a good chance of qualifying for this competition as they battle it out for the first place in the Brasileirao, chased by a formidable group of teams, including the likes of Cruzeiro, Flamengo, São Paulo and Botafogo, looking to qualify as well.

Argentine sides River Plate and Lanús are also already qualified and wait to see what will happen in the Apertura 08 to see who will join them as neither team look to win that competition. Lanús have an outside chance to claim the title and River are tied in the penultimate position on the table and have their sights set on winning the Copa Sudamericana.

In any case, be sure to watch this space for the groups and whatnot in the next few weeks since this event is not televised.

For sneak preview of a few of the teams possibly qualifying. And check out the Copa Libertadores 2009 wikipedia page to see which teams have qualified or are going to qualify for the 2009 edition.

Sorry about the tardiness of this post as I felt it would be weird to move on to a different topic and not say anything about this match. I attached match highlights, as you are all aware, this is pretty old news–over a month old in fact–but Boca has drawn level with the great European title winning power of AC Milan on number of international trophies won. No small feat.

As was expected, Boca Juniors took the first leg of the Recopa Sudamericana, played in Racing Club’s stadium “El Cilindro” with a comfortable 3-1 win over Arsenal de Sarandi. The return leg was merely a formality with a score line like that and a club like Boca–at that time anyway, but more about that later.

Boca was without Martín Palermo, due to a torn ACL ad ICL knee injury–his second, but Boca were able to count on Riquelme who was available for this match, just having arrived from Beijing with a gold medal in his bag for Argentina.

The return leg was played in Arsenal’s back yard at “El Viaducto” (and yes, most stadiums in South America have nicknames and they aren’t names attached to multi-national corporations) where they were able to hold Boca and keep them from winning the match but they were unable to cover the deficit they created for themselves in Avellaneda a week earlier.

Giving up the early goal to Palacio–who was a nightmare for the Arsenal back line again–only six minutes in after a wonderful play with Lucas Viatri. But the home side made it interesting by leveling off with a goal by Sebastián Carrera in the 58th minute. They went ahead with a Mauro Matos header in the 69th minute that squeezed between Caranta’s hands and the post.

But in stoppage time, Juan Roman Riquelme was able to get one past the Arsenal keeper off a spectacular free kick at the first post. With that, the match ended with a 2-2 draw. Arsenal ended the match with 9 men. Carlos Baez earned himself a straight red after a hard foul on Riquelme in the 65th and Cristian Díaz with ten minutes left off a second yellow.

Pardon the brevity of this match report but I doubt any of you would want full details of a match that is over a month old.

At the end of the day, Boca has won another international title due to their very good administrative work to keep this talented group of players together long enough for them to gel as a team. And thanks to a team that worked very hard to be able to stay involved and competitive in most of the tournaments that they participate in.

Not to piss on anyone’s parade, but the current state of Boca is not nearly as good as the one they experienced a month ago. Boca are struggling to find their form with virtually the identical starting 11 they had against Arsenal. With rumors of their coach working his last days with the club, the problems they’ve had with their keeper Maurico Caranta, their current place on the Apertura table (6th) and the fact that a side featuring many of their youngsters made a bigger impression on the Copa Sudamericana than their starters have are all reasons the fans in blue and yellow are worrying.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are in the same position they were a month ago. Not doing well enough to make a stink and not doing bad enough where it’s noticeable. They were recently knocked out of the Copa Sudamericana by Estudiantes de La Plata and have only the Argentine Apertura to fight for in these next few months. They currently stand in 8th place on the Apertura table.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about the Recopa Sudamericana and a little history of the competition.

Last night’s match was a very exciting one which had a little of everything, nice ball movement, close tough marking/fouls, explosive offense, great saves by the keepers and even a club record equaled.

Boca and Arsenal hit the ground running from the get go. Jesús Dátolo was unstoppable up the left side, firing up the flank at will. He and Fabián Vargas made a great pairing on that side of the pitch creating all kinds of trouble at the back for Arsenal. Along with this tactic, Boca was able to lob the ball over the defenders towards Rodrigo Palacio, back after 50 days of no football, who was able to beat most of the Arsenal defenders with relative ease.

With this volume of attacking at the Arsenal front door, it was only a matter of time before Boca established the difference on the score sheet that was already evident on the pitch. On one of Dátolo’s runs he ended p near the otouchline inside the penalty area where, Casteglione tok him down once he was inside the penalty area and the ref blew his whistle for the foul. Penalty. Palermo on deck.

Most days it’s a sure goal. Today? Palermo had me thinking of a hot summer day back in 1999 when wearing the Argentine national team jersey he failed to convert 3 penalties (3!!!) against Colombia. At the time, I had a Colombian girlfriend and I remember having to swallow her three goal celebrations and I couldn’t hate that man or Marcelo Bielsa (then Argentina coach) anymore than I did on that day. But enough about me, Palermo steps up to the spot, drills it right at Arsenal keeper Cuenca who bobbles it and Palermo takes the rebound and in true Palermo (read buffoon) fashion buries it as he falls to the pitch. 1-0 to Boca.

Despite Boca’s ability to arrive at the Arsenal penalty area with ease, the team from Sarandi seemed not to back down. Off a terrible play in the 25th minute, by usually solid Boca right back Hugo Ibarra, Alejandro Goméz out muscled him for the ball which allowed him to cross the ball into the penalty area and what seemed like slow motion, Facundo Sava’s head found the ball and slammed it past Boca keeper Mauricio Caranta. 1-1.

Arsenal seemed to grow as they found possession of the ball but in their best moment Dátolo’s marker forgot about him and he shot up the left side again where he fired off a cross which was not cleared off of Arsenal’s back line and found a streaking Palacio who then knocked it past Cuenca for the go ahead goal. 2-1 to Boca and the blue and yellows seemed to exhale.

Boca had another chance to score before the end of the first half but failed to extend their lead.

The second half began much differently than the way the first had ended, Arsenal more aggressive and decisive with the ball and making a play for their opponents penalty area. The first ten minutes saw Arsenal miss two chances to score and Boca missed one on the counter and another later when Palermo had a header saved by back up keeper Campestrini.

But Boca’s third goal came in the 44th minute where midfield stalwart Sebastian Battaglia found the ball after a series of rebounds in the penalty area and slamed it past Campestrini who had little chance of keeping it out. 3-1 to Boca. And that was that.

With very little, in two weeks Boca could conceivable lift the Recopa Sudamericana with even a 2-0 loss. Arsenal have a huge uphill climb. While they won the Copa Sudamericana on the basis of their away results, at La Bombonera, they might be able to do very little to keep Boca from earning their 16th international title.

The record equaled? With the bobbled penalty kick, Palermo has equaled Francisco Varallo’s goal scoring record of 194 goals with Boca Juniors. His next goal will make him the leading goal scorer in the history of the club. Most likely this weekend.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about the Recopa Sudamericana and a little history of the competition.

Arsenal de Sarandi vs. Club Atlético Boca Juniors (Estadio Juan Domingo Perón – “El Cilindro”, Avellaneda, Argentina)

LIVE @ 3:30pm PST on Fox Sports Español. No Gamecast, sorry. Online TV here.

This Cup, also known as the South American Super Cup, is a two legged affair that pits the winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winner of the Copa Sudamericana against each other. This competition takes the previous year’s winners of the aforementioned cups since it takes place in August during the opening stages of the Sudamericana.

This tournament has taken place since 1989. But then the champions of the Supercopa Sudamericana would compete since the Copa Sudamericana was created to replace that competition.

Boca Juniors had an incredible and dominating run in the 2007 Copa Libertadores which had the rise of Juan Roman Riquelme as part of the process. For tonight’s match, Riquelme will be absent as he is with the Argentine Olympic team. In his place will be either, Cristian Chavéz or Leandro Gracián, who are battling it out. There was some skepticism about whether or not Rodrigo Palacio would be able to take to the pitch due to a nagging injury, but he’ll be ready at game time.

Boca’s current form seems good. They opened up the Argentine Apertura with a 4-0 win over Ginmasia de Jujuy, but the season has just started so we’ll see how they net out tonight.

They’ve managed not to lose any players in the transfer market, in fact, they managed to up the pay scale of all the players on their books and upped their transfer fees. They are basically telling the European clubs, if you want our players, you’ll have to pay for them.

From what I understand, Boca are after Estudiantes de La Plata’s midfielder Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi. But the player seems engaged at the La Plata club and the trail has gone a bit cold in the last week or so. Also, Boca released their back up goal keeper, Pablo Migliore who will be playing with Racing Club.

Also, since winning the Libertadores last year, Boca has changed coaches. Miguel Angel Russo is now with San Lorenzo in Argentina and Boca have picked up former Velez Sarsfield boss, Carlos Ischia.

Arsenal de Sarandi had also had an incredible run to take the Copa Sudamericana. The surprising thing about Arsenal, other than the fact that they’ve won an international cup before they won their local league title, is that they won and played better than the majority of their away matches than their matches at home.

Arsenal’s form has been good as well for just beginning their season. They’ve traveled to Japan recently to play J-League Cup winners, Gamba Osaka in the Suruga Bank Championship. The J-League winners don’t earn a spot in the AFC Champions League so this cup is the consolation prize for that team. Arsenal won the match and the cup 1-0. Their second international title.

Arsenal began their participation in the Apertura with a win over a humble Argentinos Juniors side, 3-0. Argentinos are also participating in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana.

While Arsenal’s leading goal scorer, José Luís Calderon, left the club for Estudiantes de La Plata, Arsenal have brought in former Racing Club striker, Facundo Sava. Also, added to their line up is Guatemalan midifelder José Manuel Contreras. He’s had great showings with his U23 national team and with the Olympics squad. Arsenal also have a new coach, Daniel Garnero, who had various spells as a player with Independiente, Universidad Católica and Toros Neza of Mexico. This is Garnero’s first team as coach.

Arsenal will be the home side tonight and next week, they’ll travel to the “La Bombonera.” Arsenal have decided to play this cup in Racing’s stadium since their ground, Estadio Julio H. Grondona “El Viaducto”, has less than 17,000 seats. The return leg will be in two weeks at “La Bombonera.”

Bottom Line: Boca is still as strong as they would be if Riquelme was able to play for them. They haven’t skipped a beat since the end of last season. While Arsenal do not have the same strength, they might be able to surprise the Libertadores winners tonight with their collective play which has been their strong suit.

My Pick: 2-1 to Arsenal. I’m going out on a limb with this result. Boca could very well crush them with their many attacking options as most of their starting line up is expected to play. But going that way wouldn’t make me a very good River Plate fan.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get one here.

Last week, Bild, the German National Enquirer for sport voted Juan Pablo Sorin as one of the 20 biggest failures of the recent football transfer market. The Argentine left side, offensive defender transferred to Hamburg of the Bundesliga just after the 2006 World Cup, where he had some solid performances, from Villareal CF for €3 million. His time with the German club was plagued with injury after injury and an inability to break into some regular first team football. He made the news again recently when the club released him and again with this article from Bild.

The rumor now is that the 32 year-old may sign with Cruzeiro again and since there is no transfer fee for the player, I can’t imagine that the club would turn him away. He’s expected to arrive in Belo Horizonte this week to continue rehab on his left ankle at the club’s facilities.

It’s no secret that Sorin won over the Brazilian fans with his dogged and tenacious play up the left side. Still, there is the problem of signing a player that will need three months of treatment to heal his injured ankle and he may only be able to feature for the team’s final 10 matches. Not to mention the uncertainty of the player’s abilities after said treatment.

Sorin made a big impact on most of the sides he’s played for. His style of play is very physically taxing but it was something he seemed to be able to do with great proficiency. He alternates between playing on the defensive line, the midfield line and a danger in the penalty area where he usually ends up on his tireless runs up the left flank. He’s a great header of the ball and is technically gifted with his feet as well.

Also interested in Sorin’s services is his first club, Argentinos Juniors. As soon as Sorin’s layoff was published, the club’s president, Luis Segura, was on the phone to offer the option of coming back to the club where he started his career. Whether or not that’s a possibility remains to be seen.

Argentinos are one of the more modest clubs in Argentina and they have lost quite a few players so looking to Sorin to reinforce their side isn’t something that’s out of the question. Since they are facing competing in the Copa Sudamericana and the upcoming Argentine Apertura, they have lost a few players.

Most notably, Alejandro Delorte signed with Aris Salonica in the greek Super League. With his tall, 6′ 6″ frame in the penalty area, he was a prime target to nod the ball into the net or back towards his open teammates. Also leaving Argentinos are midfielder Roberto Battión (to Aris Salonica too) midfielder Uruguayan Alvaro Pereira (to CFR Cluj, Romania) and defender Pablo Barzola (to Caen, France).

Read up about Copa Sudamericana news, notes and transfers on the CONMEBOL website. And check out the Copa Libertadores 2009 wikipedia page to see which teams have qualified or are going to qualify for the 2009 edition.

Below is a more in depth look at Sorin’s career.

Sorin earned his stripes in the Argentinos Juniors youth teams and made his first division debut with the club. Shortly thereafter, he captained the Argentine U20 side to win the 1995 Youth World Cup in Qatar.

He was then snapped up by Juventus but failed to break into the first team due to his youth and lack of first team appearances in a side that was already pretty solid. Juventus finished second behind champions, AC Milan in the Serie A that season but won the Champions League.

He came back to Argentina and this time landed at the team Juventus faced in the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo that year, River Plate. He reinforced one of the strongest sides that club has fielded in their history. With River, Sorin won three tournaments in a row from the Apertura in 1996 to the Apertura of 1997. Add to that the another Apertura tournament in 1999. He also won the Supercopa Sudamericana in 1997 with the club.

Sorin was a wanted man in 2000 and when his number came up, he went to Cruzeiro of Brazil. He spent a year there and endeared himself to the fans and became captain at one point with his many tireless performances and helping the team secure the Copa do Brasil.

It was only a matter of time before Europe came calling again, this time he headed to SS Lazio of Serie A. At this point, he was called up regularly to the Argentine national team and SS Lazio had quite a few Argentines on their squad including Juan Sebastian Veron. But his time there was plagued with injuries and he failed to get a regular spot on the first team.

Barcelona was the next stop for Sorin where he managed to play 15 matches in only half a season with the Catalans. He had a spell with PSG in France and another spell with Cruzeiro before landing at Villareal in 2004.

With Villareal he reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and had some really influential performances along the way and played along side mercurial midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme.

But that seemed about where his luck dipped. His inability to get along with Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini was his main reason for his need to leave the Spanish side. While there were many clubs interested in his services at that time, he chose to play for Hamburg.

No, not that Anderson. This Anderson is 29 year-old Anderson Cléber, recently signed by São Paulo from Olympique Lyonnais in France’s Ligue 1. Anderson will remain with the club until June of 2009 and is currently recovering from a knee injury, which he sustained during a French league match against Sochaux.

Despite his injury, Anderson will not be able to compete with his new club until after August 3rd when the league activates foreign signings which makes them eligible to appear for their new clubs.

In the controversy department, Anderson developed as a young player in their bitter rivals’ youth teams, Corinthians. As a captain with that club he won the 2000 Club World Cup, the 2002 Copa do Brasil, the Rio-São Paulo tournament in 2002 and the São Paulo State Championship in 2001 and 2003. With Benfica, he won one Portuguese league title in 2005 and won a Ligue 1 Championship in 2007 and a Trophée des Champions 2007 with Lyon where he was coached by Gerard Houllier and Alain Perrin.

This is a great pick up for São Paulo so look for Anderson to provide an important amount of leadership and on field experience in big games for a side that seemed to lack a bit of presence in the Libertadores. His experience will come in handy especially while covering for regular starters that will be out on international duty or out due to injury.

Along with Anderson, São Paulo have also signed defender, Rodrigo, who’s transfer belongs to Dynamo Kiev but has been on loan to Flamengo, and striker André Lima, who was with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. Anderson and Rodrigo were brought in to cover the back line since Alex Silva has been called up to play with the Brazilian Olympic team in Beijing and Joao Miranda who is expected to be out for the next four weeks due to an injury. Lima was brought in to help plug up the gaping hole left up front with Adriano’s departure to Europe.

São Paulo are also very interested in midfielder Daniel Carvalho who currently plays with CSKA Moscow in Russia. Carvalho has suited up for the Brazilian side already and would be a great player for São Paulo to sign given their limitations in midfield. CSKA has agreed to loan the player out to a Brazilian side for the following six months since his transfer to Inter Milan fell through. Word is, he is quite endeared with the idea of coming to work with Muricy Ramalho and his assistant Tata, both had a hand in the player’s development as a youngster.

Despite the departure of Adriano, São Paulo still have a competitive side. Keep an eye on the following players in the upcoming Copa Sudamericana. Aloisio will most likely be the main threat on the forward line since he was pretty solid for São Paulo in the Libertadores. Hernanes, a budding midfield star, is also still with the club but he will miss a few of the early matches since he will be in Beijing with Alex Silva representing Brazil. And I’d be remiss not to mention the monster under the three posts, Rogerio Ceni. At 35 years old, he is still the man for coach Ramalho.

Read up about Copa Sudamericana news, notes and transfers on the CONMEBOL website. And check out the Copa Libertadores 2009 wikipedia page to see which teams have qualified or are going to qualify for the 2009 edition.

Today, San Lorenzo finalized Andrés D’Alessandro’s transfer to Internacional of Porto Alegre. The transfer had been on ice since last week and San Lorenzo has completed their involvement. Now, the player and his new club await a fax confirming the transfer from his old club in Spain, Real Zaragoza. D’Alessandro will be in Porto Alegre to sign his new contract tomorrow.

The investment group that fronted San Lorenzo the money to buy half of D’Alessandro’s transfer made their money back (€3,500,000) and Zaragoza sold the other half to the Brazilian club for much less than they had wanted to.

Inter is reinforcing their side with the Copa Sudamericana on the horizon. D’Alessandro will be joining fellow Argentine Pablo Guiñazu for whom they recently rejected an offer from Al Jazzira from the United Arab Emirates league.

The operation was completed for €6 million total and the player’s contract will be for $1,500,000 a year. He was transferred from Zaragoza at the call of former San Lorenzo coach Ramón Díaz.

D’Alessandro came up the youth ranks at River Plate replacing Pablo Aimar as the main play maker for the team. He was an integral part of the Argentine U20 squad with whom he won the Youth World Cup in 2001, winning his starting spot by coming off the bench in early matches. His great play earned him a transfer to Bundesliga club, Wolfsburg, for a then club record of €9 million. He failed to settle in completely and the constant manager changes didn’t help him either.

He sought out first team football with Portsmouth in the Premier League for a short, half season on loan where he impressed Harry Redknapp but ended up moving on and played the following season with Zaragoza, also on loan, where he was lined up next to Aimar. Zaragoza then purchased his transfer from Wolfsburg for the following season. But failure to get along with the current coach forced him to look towards Argentina with the hopes of finding the regular playing time that could possibly earn him a spot on the Argentine national team. And that’s when he landed at San Lorenzo.

D’Alessandro’s a gifted left footed midfielder with an eye for setting up his teammates in the penalty area and he possesses a wicked outside shot. He also has the ability to create his own space with smart footwork and has a great finishing ability. He’s a bit of a hothead and has had himself sent off in a few important matches but there’s no questioning his speed off the ball.

In my opinion, he reached his best form during the time he was with River Plate and when he played in the Youth World Cup of 2001. He basically needs to be able to take the team on his shoulders. In Europe, teams are no longer assembled around one player and, I believe, that’s why he failed to really become indispensable to his clubs the way he had been at River Plate.

Good luck Cabezón.

Read up about Copa Sudamericana news, notes and transfers on the CONMEBOL website. And check out the Copa Libertadores 2009 wikipedia page to see which teams have qualified or are going to qualify for the 2009 edition.

While the rest of the world seems to have come to a standstill, in football terms, down in Uruguay, there are still matches being played that mean something to the clubs that are participating. This weekend saw the Uruguayan Liguilla (that’s playoffs in Spanish) come closer to an end and more importantly, defined which teams had earned themselves a spot in the upcoming continental tournaments.

I watched as a nine man Defensor Sporting beat River Plate (who had all 11 men on the pitch), 1-0, earning themselves a spot in both upcoming continental cups. This was the first of two matches taking place in Uruguay this Sunday. The man of the first match was easily Defensor player Julio Marchant.

For Defensor, it means they’ve earned themselves a berth into the Copa Libertadores 2009 edition because they have earned the most points over the Uruguayan Apertura and Clausura. But as an added bonus and because they edged River, they earned themselves the third place slot which sees them into the Copa Sudamericana 2008 as well.

For River, because of their loss and inability to score over Defensor, they are looking at a 4th place finish which qualifies them for the Copa Sudamericana 2008. Had they won, they could have been in Defensor’s position and could have qualified for the Libertadores 2009 as well.

In Sunday’s second match, Peñarol drew with Rampla Juniors, 2-2. This is important because, Peñarol earned themselves a berth in the 2009 Copa Libertadores for the first time in three years. Peñarol is a five time winner of the Libertadores, their last win coming in 1987. The last Uruguayan team to win the Libertadores was Nacional de Montevideo who did it in 1988.

The Uruguayan Liguilla comes to an end with the final match this Sunday when Defensor and Nacional meet to define the Uruguayan champion.

The Libertadores picture is much clearer while the Copa Sudamericana is completely in focus. The only two teams remaining to qualify were Defensor Sporting and River Plate, basically the #3 and #4 teams from Uruguay. The competition begins on July 29th.

I’ll be covering the Copa Sudamericana on a separate page, in the meantime you can download a bracket for the tournament to get a good idea of how the matches will be played and look for my first upload on the new page soon.

Now while covering this story might seem a little out of my patch, let me set your minds at ease by telling you that it affected a team that will be participating in the Copa Sudamericana that I will also be starting to cover when it begins at the end of this month.

With Ronaldinho’s transfer to AC Milan becoming a reality and more importantly, finally ending the rumors, there are more than just the parties represented that are happy about the move and the transfer fee. And you’ll never guess who.

Firstly, Gremio is pretty damned happy. Not just because they managed to transfer him away to PSG all those years ago, for which they pocketed $10.5 million, but because thanks to a solidarity system put in place through an agreement between the clubs in question and supported by FIFA, those teams who had a part in a players formation (read: the period between 12 – 23 years old) as a professional are entitled to a small percentage of his future transfers. Which is why 1 million euros are due to Gremio as a result of Ronaldinho’s transfer to AC Milan making them very happy.

Secondly, PSG is also pretty damned happy. It turns out that Ronaldinho was only 21 when he was initially transferred to PSG and therefore considered one of the clubs that contributed to his formation as a player and also entitled it’s 5% of the transfer which would also make them happy.

What I couldn’t find was the exact rules to this “agreement” between the clubs about the percentage of transfer fees or which players this agreement was applied to. What I can tell you is that when Barcelona paid for his transfer from PSG, Gremio was able to pocket another $3 million.

Now we know why Barsa rejected AC Milan’s first offer of 18 million euros. They knew thy would have had to share the fee with a few other interested parties.

Nelson “Pipino” Cuevas has left Club Libertad in his native Paraguay to join his new team Santos of Brazil. Cuevas, who, in my opinion, had the best years of his career back at River Plate and had a good performance with his national team Paraguay in the 2002 World Cup. Still, he has flashes of brilliance now and again that make one believe that he’s finally arrived but he never fully reaches the peak of what his potential suggests he is capable of.

At 28 years old, the player is said to be happy playing “where greats like Robinho and Pelé once played.” Cuevas is a left footed striker of small stature but has great ability with the ball at his feet and prefers to play around the edges of the penalty area feeding the center forward or taking advantage of space created in the penalty area. He also has a great outside shot but can mix it up with a nice subtle touch when needed.

Cuevas will be replacing Chilean Sebastián Pinto, formerly of Universidad de Chile and Argentine, Mariano Tripodi, who scored a game winning goal for Santos off the bench late in a group six match in this year’s Libertadores, were both let go by the club, but Tripodi was let go after only just under six months of service to the club since he was signed only in February of this year.

For a player who is an underachiever he has sure won plenty of titles. Most of them with River Plate however. An interesting side note, his mother is his agent and according to reports most clubs say she’s a real hard ass.

Richard “el Chengue” Morales has announced that he is leaving Nacional de Montevideo, because he’s not up to par physically. This news came just a few days after his team lost the Uruguayan derby to rivals Peñarol. He stated that he “is no longer has the strength nor the willingness to be the spiritual leader of the team.” At 33 years old and a fan favorite at Nacional, Morales has had various injuries in the last few weeks.

His teammates have tried to convince him otherwise but have not been successful. And they should keep trying. Without him, they lose their main offensive threat in the penalty area. But on the other hand, this might be a good thing. It might actually force the players to learn to play without him or fore the club directors to pick up another tall striker.

In the Copa Libertadores, he was the heart and soul of the team. And when he wasn’t finishing off his own opportunities, he was creating spaces by keeping defenders’ attention. Check out this performance from him and his team (as an added bonus the video still works). And here he is scoring two goals on the team that’s currently leading the Brasileirao.